Have you seen the movie "Killer Clowns from Outer Space?" It was released in the late '80s and it featured a cast of clowns that were funny, wicked, and scary all at the same time. Kind of like the Republicans of the House Judiciary Committee. The difference between the two, is that the clowns from the film take over a small California town after smothering it's citizens in cotton candy, the non-fiction case features clowns that have taken over Washington D.C. after smothering the country in partisan politics.

As I write this, it looks like the impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton is a distinct possibility. There are two main reasons I believe this will happen. First of all the Republican party has been trying to shut down the government ever since Mr. Bill, and all his baggage, was elected to office. Second, like the predators they are, the Republicans and the Religious Wrong will not cease now that there is "blood in the water." Any semblance of national pride be damned. If you ask me, the impeachment hearings are nothing more than an extension of the Jerry Springer Show.

To be honest with you I have been watching this witch hunt with amused detachment because I know that with the removal of Bill Clinton, comes the silver lining of an Al Gore presidency. Imagine having a self proclaimed environmentalist in the oval office. For those of you who aren't quite sure what that implies, I suggest you get yourself a copy of the Vice President's best seller Earth in The Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit.

In a 1993 speech to the United Nations' Commission on Sustainable Development, Vice President Gore said, "...many people now think about our relationship to the earth in ways that assume we don't have to concern ourselves with the consequences of our actions -- as if the global environment will forever be impervious to the rapidly mounting insults to its integrity and balance." Sounds like the voting public of San Diego County doesn't it?

Personally I love the idea of having a Commander in Chief who served time in Vietnam holding a camera instead of a gun. I also like the idea of a President who, as a first rate environmental policy wonk, can show you the mind numbing statistics on how environmental destruction is bad for the economy. Best of all, Al Gore is planning to make urban sprawl and habitat loss a major focus of his campaign for sustainable communities. Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus.

So all I can say in regards to the Henry Hyde and Republicans' Fall ‘98 Impeachment Tour is, "Rock on!" Christmas is coming and it is time the environmental community got something in it's stocking other than a lump of rhetoric. I'm looking forward to having a very green Christmas.

In response to a Letter to the Editor from last week, I have to disagree with the gentleman from Fallbrook. The "You must build it, because they will come" philosophy is a self-fulfilling prophecy that is leaving us all buried by the trappings of our selfish greed. Overpopulation is a problem, I shouldn't have to buy property just to make sure it isn't covered with people and their stuff.

Like Al Gore, I believe that we have reached our limits and it is time to rethink our anthropocentric priorities. Sorry folks, but multiplying like bunnies is no longer fruitful.